Ghosts of Waikiki by Jennifer K. Morita

Author:Jennifer K. Morita
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: CROOKED LANE BOOKS

Chapter Twenty-Two

It was a cheap shot.

“Worked, ya?” Koa said, when I told him as much three hours later.

“This stays between us. My mom will freak if she hears what happened.”

Clad only in a worn hospital gown, my bare backside covered in chicken skin from the overly air-conditioned exam room, I was in no position to bargain. And he knew it.

We’d been at the medical center for close to three hours by then. The hospital corridors were crawling with patrol officers, guarding the waiting room, taking my statement, or talking to Koa in hushed voices. Someone hauling a large caddy came by to swab my neck and hands for DNA, even collecting my clothes as evidence. When I was finally whisked off to see a doctor, Koa had flashed his badge at the nurse and insisted on accompanying me.

Now he was slumped in the hospital chair, his long legs stretched out in front of him. Eyes closed and shielded by dark sunglasses to block the harsh fluorescent lighting, he could’ve been asleep. If it weren’t for the faint, upward tug on his lips.

“You, me—and HPD.”

“Koa—”

The grin faded. He sat up, took off his glasses, and narrowed his eyes at me. “I won’t tell your parents you were attacked in your own apartment and nearly killed. But don’t you think you should?”

“Nope.”

He sighed and slouched back in the chair. “Have it your way.”

A nurse in blue scrubs pushed open the accordion door that served as a partition between exam rooms. Pretty with dark hair and salon-kissed highlights, her face brightened as she smiled and batted eyelash extensions at Koa.

“Nice to see you, Detective. You’re working late, ya? Caught a bad case or what?” she said, not even glancing my way.

“Just making sure Maya’s okay. She’s had a rough night. Any idea how much longer?”

She sat at the computer terminal and began tapping the keys. “Are we admitting her?”

“No,” I said.

“Depends on the doc.” There was an unmistakable note of warning in Koa’s tone.

She looked up from the screen to eye us curiously. “We’ve ordered an MRI, and she’s next in line, so it shouldn’t be much longer.”

“I’ll be fine, if you need to leave,” I said after the nurse had gone. I winced at how the words sounded. We’d been waiting an hour, but truthfully, I didn’t want to be alone. Koa’s presence was comforting.

Back at the Ainahau, I’d watched him issuing orders to the other officers, efficiently managing the crime scene and search for the culprit from the makeshift command station in the Lopez apartment. In addition to collecting security tapes, I knew they’d already interviewed a tourist staying in one of the units who’d seen a figure in dark clothes running from the rear stairway exit.

“Amy’s got it covered. How’s your head?”

“Better. Thank you.”

“Just doing my job.” He looked away, then suddenly turned back to me. “You said, ‘he.’ What makes you think the perp was a man?”

I hadn’t gotten so much as a glimpse of my attacker. “Just a feeling, I guess.

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